To all the saints in Christ Jesus, 3rd Quarter 2009
May the grace and peace from God our father, and from the lord Jesus Christ, be with you
all. I have returned to the states after four and half years in Malawi Africa. I am currently
traveling and visiting New Testament Churches throughout California and Oregon. My faithful
wife remained in Malawi to help complete our move and protect our new residence and care
for her son and father. I have been blessed with the brotherly kindness and encouragement
upon my arrival. I hope and pray that our Lord God will allow for more visitations, especially
in New Testament Churches outside of CA and OR. It was difficult to adjust right away when
entering the United States. I will be returning to Malawi on December 17, 2009. Please pray
for me during my visit to the states, while seeking to do God’s will here on earth, and for the
progress of the Gospel of Our lord Jesus Christ.
Mission work in Malawi ………
I am blessed to have several helpers in the field. I am especially appreciative for the help of
Bro Saidi Phiri and our translators. Our third quarter on 2009 in Malawi was spent visiting
existing churches and groups of people wanting to be established as a New Testament
church under the Landmark Baptist denomination. The area we have most visited was
Machinga district in the Liwonde area. We have made contact with thirteen groups and five
churches. We are taking time with each Pastor to verify their theological background and
statement of faith.
The majority of the pastors in Liwonde started out as Pentecostal, Catholic or Presbyterian.
This type of religious background is difficult to undo in their theology, so we spend much time
in teaching to instill Bible truth. The Liwonde area is also populated with the Muslims and
Islam religions, which do not accept Jesus Christ as God and Mediator and the Redeemer of
our sins. They accepted Mohammed as god’s prophet and his writings as being holy. These
Pastors lack proper Bible education, and some are illiterate, which is an obstacle that hinders
their growth in knowledge of God and His Holy Scriptures. They often learned bible
knowledge from listening to radio stations, which are strongly influenced by Catholic and
Pentecostal teachings. We continue to teach the doctrines of grace and Gospel of Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
The biggest challenge we have is material that can be absorbed by these groups of people.
We have translated Baptist doctrines and are preparing to have them printed. We are looking
into an audio program of the Bible. Please pray for God’s will in this matter, as this will teach
those who are not able to read.
We have translated twenty lessons, four lessons per subject on five pamphlets, doctrines on
the New testament Church, Responsibility to the Gospel, The Holy Scriptures, Doctrine of
Regeneration, and Holy Scriptures. We are in the process of typing these lessons and
recording on hard disc drive for printing when funds become available.
We are also in the process of translating and typing Walking through the Gospels with Jesus
and Distinctive Characteristics of a Baptist.
We are hopeful that we will be able to develop a theology booklet with lessons that are helpful
in developing Pastors and teachers. This project requires time and more expenses to
translate and print. We will begin this project in 2010. By God’s grace, we hope to build a
nucleus of faithful men to teach and use as teachers and mentors to help develop Pastors
and brethren.
After one year of working with a group in Luchensa area, we baptized seventeen believers
and they have covenanted together to establish a New Testament church. They held their
first meeting by selecting a pastor and officers for the church. Please pray for them.
Mission work in 2010 ………
I am going to complete the last quarter in 2009 traveling in the states and visiting New
Testament Churches and presenting our work in Malawi, Africa. While in the states, I am
receiving help to prepare more materials to be used in teaching in Malawi to help them grow
in God’s word and practices. I hope to be able to teach them from a booklet written by Elder
Jon VonDoloski entitled: What is a Biblical Christian? Elder VonDoloski is the Pastor at
Liberty Church in Oregon. Please pray that we will have the ability and funds to translate and
print booklets for students and pastors into the native Malawian language of Chichewa. This
study would teach them answers to questions such as: What is a Christian? What is
Baptism? What is a Biblical Church? What is a Biblical faith?
Our Family needs and changes……
We are currently completing our move to our new residence. The home is larger and
provides additional room for us, our son, and other helpers. Hopefully it will provide more
security for our family and property as we are constantly under threat of neighborhood
robberies with the spiraling inflation and shortage of food supplies to Malawi. My spouse is
suffering from diabetic illness and it is hard to find proper medical supplies. Our son, Sean, is
attending Kalibu academy and progressing well and we are hopeful he will complete his form
two and proceed to form three next year. After that, he will got to Secondary school which
consists of four years without higher education and five years when attending university.
Please pray for God to….
Continue to bless and bring faithful men to our ministry…
Help us develop a sound training program for pastors, and faithful men….
Provide materials for training….
Thanks from the Padilla family……
You are greatly appreciated! Without your prayers and financial support, we would not be
able to continue as Missionaries to the people of Malawi. We praise God for you and thank
you for your love and commitment!
In the service of Our Lord and love of Our Messiah,
Joe, Gertie and Sean Padilla
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